Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The Role of MARPOL in Reducing Microplastic Pollution: Implications for Marine Species Health

This paper assessed the effectiveness of MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) in reducing marine microplastic pollution, examining how ship-sourced plastic waste regulations are implemented and enforced. It found significant compliance gaps and called for stronger international mechanisms.

2024 Engineering Daily Book Series.
Article Tier 2

International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development

This study evaluated the current international legal framework governing marine microplastic pollution and identified significant gaps in regulatory coverage. Researchers found that existing global and regional legal instruments lack the specificity and enforcement mechanisms needed to effectively address microplastic contamination. The study offers recommendations for strengthening international law to better regulate the sources and impacts of marine microplastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

International Legal Systems in Tackling the Marine Plastic Pollution: A Critical Analysis of UNCLOS and MARPOL

This legal analysis examines how two major international agreements, UNCLOS and MARPOL, address marine plastic pollution and identifies significant gaps in their ability to reduce it. The existing laws lack enforceable requirements for reducing land-based plastic waste and have uneven enforcement of rules for ship-based discharges. The paper proposes strengthening international law to promote a circular economy approach, which matters because marine plastic breaks down into microplastics that enter the seafood supply.

2025 Water 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Legal Analysis of the Prevention of Marine Microplastics Pollution

This legal analysis examines international law frameworks governing marine microplastic pollution prevention, identifying obstacles including enforcement difficulties, weak jurisdictional clarity, and insufficient coordination among existing treaty regimes, while noting growing attention to microplastics in UN General Assembly resolutions and calling for stronger multilateral legal mechanisms.

2022 Law and Economy
Article Tier 2

Examination of the Efficacy of International Law in Combatting Trans-Border Environmental Crimes

Despite its title referencing trans-border environmental crimes, this paper is a legal analysis examining how international law handles crimes like illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, and transboundary pollution — not microplastic pollution. It reviews international treaties and enforcement mechanisms for these broader environmental crimes, and is not directly relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 NIU journal of legal studies. 1 citations
Article Tier 2

International Environmental Law and Marine Pollution in the Pacific Islands: Promoting Sustainable Ocean Governance

Not relevant to microplastics — this international law paper reviews strategies for sustainable ocean governance in Pacific Island nations, covering fisheries management, waste policy, and regional cooperation, but does not focus specifically on microplastic contamination.

2023 Law and Economy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An Examination of Evolving Concerns, Obstacles, and Prospects in Relation to Pollution in the Marine Environment

This review examines international and national regulatory frameworks for marine pollution, finding that laws are often reactive — triggered only after environmental disasters — and inadequate for addressing diffuse threats like microplastic contamination. The authors argue that current legal tools need modernization and stronger enforcement to keep pace with emerging pollutants. This is relevant context for understanding why microplastic regulation lags far behind scientific evidence of harm.

2023 Pakistan Journal of Criminal Justice 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Dilemma in global governance of marine plastic pollution and regulatory coordination: convention reconstruction via integrated international law

This legal analysis examined fragmented international governance of marine plastic pollution across 17 instruments including UNCLOS, MARPOL, and regional conventions, identifying a gap between soft law priorities and binding enforcement for microplastics. The authors proposed an integrated umbrella convention framework with specialized protocols to align the Global Plastic Treaty with existing agreements and establish enforceable plastic production caps.

2025 Frontiers in Marine Science 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Penanggulangan Pencemaran Sampah Plastik Di Laut Berdasarkan Hukum Internasional

This Indonesian-language paper reviews international law frameworks for addressing marine plastic pollution, noting that approximately 80% of solid marine debris is plastic. The study discusses how international legal instruments can be strengthened to address the management of plastic waste that becomes marine microplastics.

2020 Jurnal IUS Kajian Hukum dan Keadilan 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Legal Approaches to Reduce Plastic Marine Pollution: Challenges and Global Governance

This review examined legal approaches to reducing marine plastic pollution and found that while international frameworks like the International Maritime Organization's MARPOL Annex V and regional agreements provide useful foundations, significant governance gaps and enforcement challenges remain in addressing the global scale of marine plastic contamination.

2021 ANNALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PERSPECTIVE 32 citations
Article Tier 2

A study on transboundary governance of marine plastic debris—the case of an adjacent waters between China and Taiwan

Researchers investigated marine debris governance in the Kinmen-Xiamen transboundary waters between China and Taiwan, finding that monsoons, ocean currents, and tides are the primary drivers of debris drift. Marine plastic debris, bamboo, and wood were the dominant waste types, affecting species including the horseshoe crab and Indo-Pacific dolphin.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 4 citations
Article Tier 2

International legal system: Marine pollution

This review analyzes the international legal framework governing marine pollution, examining the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related instruments while identifying gaps and limitations in current regulations for protecting marine biodiversity and ecosystem health.

2023 SHS Web of Conferences
Article Tier 2

Environmental Degradation and Legal Accountability: Strengthening India’s Response to Pollution and Climate Crisis

Not relevant to microplastics — this appears to be a legal and policy paper about environmental degradation and accountability in India, with an abstract that inconsistently describes a study on waste management education among women; it does not present original microplastic research.

2026 International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology
Article Tier 2

The development of ocean governance for marine environment protection: Current legal system in Taiwan

This review analyzes Taiwan's evolving ocean governance framework following the establishment of the Ocean Affairs Council in 2018, comparing its marine protection laws and policies with international approaches and providing recommendations for a proposed Marine Conservation Act.

2023 Frontiers in Marine Science 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Economic and International Legal Aspects of the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution

This review examines the economic and international legal frameworks governing protection of the marine environment from pollution, focusing on areas beyond national sovereignty where enforcement of sustainable development goals remains challenging. The authors analyzed how international law approaches marine pollution control across states with varying national-level regulatory capacities.

2025 Baltic Journal of Economic Studies
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Fishing Vessels on the Heavy Metal Contamination in Sediments: A Case Study of Qianzhen Fishing Port in Southern Taiwan

Researchers assessed heavy metal contamination in sediments from Qianzhen Fishing Port in southern Taiwan, finding elevated levels from vessel maintenance and wastewater discharges. While focused on heavy metals rather than microplastics specifically, the study is relevant to understanding the combined pollution burdens in port environments where plastic and chemical contamination co-occur.

2022 Water 51 citations
Article Tier 2

Looking for a Chinese solution to global problems: The situation and countermeasures of marine plastic waste and microplastics pollution governance system in China

This study analyzed China's marine plastic waste and microplastic pollution governance system, examining policy frameworks across blue economy development, plastics industry reform, and public health awareness, while proposing countermeasures to curb marine pollution intensification.

2021 Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment 45 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental legislation analysis improvement approach of global marine plastic pollution from the perspective of holistic system view

This review analyzes international laws and regulations aimed at preventing marine plastic pollution, from United Nations conventions to individual country legislation. The authors find that current legal frameworks are fragmented and fail to address the full scope of the problem, including microplastics entering human bloodstreams through the food chain. They propose a comprehensive Marine Plastics Convention that emphasizes environmental justice and stricter risk prevention measures.

2024 Frontiers in Marine Science 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Strengthening Capacity in Ocean Governance

This paper is not about microplastics; it examines challenges in international ocean governance, discussing capacity-building initiatives in the Asia-Pacific under frameworks like UNCLOS and multilateral maritime institutions.

2023 Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing Microplastic Pollution in Malaysia’s Water Supply: Regulatory Gaps, Technological Challenges, and Lessons from Global Practice

This legal analysis of Malaysia's regulatory framework for microplastic contamination in drinking water found significant gaps — no specific guidelines exist — and recommended adopting international best practices and developing national microplastic monitoring standards.

2025 Journal of Sustainability Science and Management
Article Tier 2

Assessing Indonesia’s Environmental Laws Pertaining to the Abatement of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Euphemism?

This study examined Indonesia's environmental laws governing marine plastic pollution, finding significant gaps between legislative intent and enforcement capacity, and arguing that stronger regulatory frameworks, improved waste infrastructure, and community-based approaches are needed to reduce the country's large contribution to ocean plastics.

2022 Jurnal Media Hukum 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - still relevant to protection of the marine environment?

This chapter evaluates whether the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains a useful tool for protecting the marine environment, including from plastic pollution. The author argues that UNCLOS has significant gaps when applied to modern pollution threats. Strengthening or supplementing UNCLOS with new agreements may be necessary to address marine plastic pollution effectively.

2023 Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

An International Legal Framework for Marine Plastics Pollution

This legal analysis reviews the current international framework for regulating marine plastics and identifies significant gaps and inconsistencies across treaties and agreements. The chapter argues that stronger, more unified global legal instruments are needed to effectively reduce plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

2023 Cambridge University Press eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

International Water Law’s Role in Addressing the Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Vital Piece in a Complex Puzzle!

This legal analysis examined the role of international water law in addressing marine plastic pollution, arguing that existing water governance frameworks have largely overlooked plastics as a water resource management problem. The author advocates for integrating plastic pollution controls into international water law instruments.

2022 Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 14 citations